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Hamza همزة | |
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ء | |
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Usage | |
Writing system | Arabic script |
Type | Abjad |
Language of origin | Arabic language |
Sound values | /ʔ/ |
In Unicode | U+0621ARABIC LETTER HAMZA |
Other | |
Writing direction | Right-to-left |
This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. |
Arabic alphabet |
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ابتثجحخدذرزسشصضطظعغفقكلمنهوي |
Arabic script |
Thehamza (Arabic:هَمْزَةhamza) (ء) is anArabic script character that, in theArabic alphabet, denotes aglottal stop and, in non-Arabic languages, indicates adiphthong,vowel, or other features, depending on the language. Derived from the letterʿayn (ع),[1] the hamza is written in initial, medial, and final positions as an unlinked letter or placed above or under a carrier character. Despite its common usage as a letter inModern Standard Arabic, it is generally not considered to be one ofits letters, although some argue that it should be considered so.
The hamza is oftenromanized as atypewriter apostrophe ('), amodifier letter apostrophe (ʼ), amodifier letter right half ring (ʾ), or as theInternational Phonetic Alphabet symbol/ʔ/. InArabizi, it is either written as "2" or not written at all.
In thePhoenician,Hebrew andAramaic alphabets, from which the Arabic alphabet is descended, the glottal stop was expressed byaleph (𐤀), continued byalif (ا) in the Arabic alphabet. However, alif was used to express both a glottal stop/ʔ/ and along vowel/aː/. In order to indicate that a glottal stop is used and not a mere vowel, it was added to alifdiacritically. Just as Greek vowels were used as diacritical marks to indicate vowel sounds in Western Syriac,[2] the Hamza (in effect a lower-case Greek Alpha) was used as a diacritical mark in Arabic to indicate the original Aleph glottal stop. In modernArabic orthography, hamza may also appear on the line under certain circumstances as though it were a full letter, independent of an alif.
Hamza is derived from the verbhamaza (هَمَزَ) meaning 'to prick, goad, drive' or 'to provide (a letter or word) with hamzah'.[3]
The hamza (ء) on its own ishamzat al-qaṭ‘ (هَمْزَة الْقَطْع, "thehamzah which breaks, ceases or halts", i.e. the broken, cessation, halting"), otherwise referred to asqaṭ‘at (قَطْعَة), that is, aphonemicglottal stop unlike thehamzat al-waṣl (هَمْزَة الوَصْل, "thehamzah which attaches, connects or joins", i.e. the attachment, connection, joining"), a non-phonemic glottal stop produced automatically only if at the beginning of an utterance, otherwise assimilated. Although thehamzat al-waṣl can be written as analif carrying awaṣlah signٱ (only in theQuran), it is normally indicated by a plain alif without a hamza (ا).[4]
ٱ occurs in:
It is not pronounced following a vowel (البَيْتُ الكَبِير,al-baytu l-kabīru). This event occurs in thedefinite article, or at the beginning of a noun following apreposition, or a verb following arelative pronoun. If the definite articleal- is followed by asun letter, -l- also gives way for the next letter forlām (ل) is assimilated.
The hamza can be written either alone, as if it were aletter, or with a carrier, when it becomes adiacritic:
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ء | (none) | (none) | (none) |
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ٴ | (none) | (none) | (none) |
Position in word: | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ء | (none) | (none) | (none) |
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | أ | ـأ | ـأ | أ |
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | إ | ـإ | ـإ | إ |
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ؤ | ـؤ | ـؤ | ؤ |
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ئ | ـئ | ـئـ | ئـ |
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | هٔ | ـهٔ | ـهٔـ | هٔـ |
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ځ | ـځ | ـځـ | ځـ |
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ݬ | ـݬ | ـݬ | ݬ |
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ۓ | ـۓ | ـۓ | ۓ |
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ۂ | ـۂ | ـۂـ | ۂـ |
The rules for writing hamza differ somewhat between languages even if the writing is based on theArabic abjad. The following addresses Arabic specifically.
I. If the hamza is initial:
II. If the hamza is final:
III. If the hamza is medial:
Not surprisingly, the complexity of the rules causes some disagreement.
The letter ط (ṭ) stands here for any consonant.
first | second | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ʾiṭ | ʾuṭ | ʾaṭ | ʾīṭ | ʾūṭ | ʾāṭ | |
ṭiʾ | ṭiʾiṭ | ṭiʾuṭ | ṭiʾaṭ | ṭiʾīṭ | ṭiʾūṭ | ṭiʾāṭ |
طِئِط | طِئُط | طِئَط | طِئِيط | طِئُوط | طِئَاط | |
ṭuʾ | ṭuʾiṭ | ṭuʾuṭ | ṭuʾaṭ | ṭuʾīṭ | ṭuʾūṭ[a] | ṭuʾāṭ |
طُئِط | طُؤُط | طُؤَط | طُئِيط | طُؤُوط | طُؤَاط | |
ṭaʾ | ṭaʾiṭ | ṭaʾuṭ | ṭaʾaṭ | ṭaʾīṭ | ṭaʾūṭ[a] | ṭaʾāṭ |
طَئِط | طَؤُط | طَأَط | طَئِيط | طَؤُوط | طَآط | |
ṭīʾ | ṭīʾiṭ | ṭīʾuṭ | ṭīʾaṭ | ṭīʾīṭ | ṭīʾūṭ | ṭīʾāṭ |
طِيئِط | طِيئُط | طِيئَط | طِيئِيط | طِيئُوط | طِيئَاط | |
ṭayʾ | ṭayʾiṭ | ṭayʾuṭ | ṭayʾaṭ | ṭayʾīṭ | ṭayʾūṭ | ṭayʾāṭ |
طَيْئِط | طَيْئُط | طَيْئَط | طَيْئِيط | طَيْئُوط | طَيْئَاط | |
ṭūʾ | ṭūʾiṭ | ṭūʾuṭ | ṭūʾaṭ | ṭūʾīṭ | ṭūʾūṭ | ṭūʾāṭ |
طُوءِط | طُوءُط | طُوءَط | طُوءِيط | طُوءُوط | طُوءَاط | |
ṭawʾ | ṭawʾiṭ | ṭawʾuṭ | ṭawʾaṭ | ṭawʾīṭ | ṭawʾūṭ | ṭawʾāṭ |
طَوْءِط | طَوْءُط | طَوْءَط | طَوْءِيط | طَوْءُوط | طَوْءَاط | |
طَوْئِط | طَوْؤُط | طَوْأَط | طَوْئِيط | طَوْآط | ||
ṭāʾ | ṭāʾiṭ | ṭāʾuṭ | ṭāʾaṭ | ṭāʾīṭ | ṭāʾūṭ | ṭāʾāṭ |
طَائِط | طَاؤُط | طَاءَط | طَائِيط | طَاءُوط | طَاءَاط |
condition | vowel | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
i | u | a | ī | ū | ā | |
#_VC | ʾiṭ | ʾuṭ | ʾaṭ | ʾīṭ | ʾūṭ | ʾāṭ |
إِط | أُط | أَط | إِيط | أُوط | آط | |
C_VC | ṭʾiṭ | ṭʾuṭ | ṭʾaṭ | ṭʾīṭ | ṭʾūṭ | ṭʾāṭ |
طْئِط | طْؤُط | طْأَط | طْئِيط | طْءُوط | طْآط | |
CV_C | ṭiʾṭ | ṭuʾṭ | ṭaʾṭ | ṭīʾṭ | ṭūʾṭ | ṭāʾṭ |
طِئْط | طُؤْط | طَأْط | طِيئْط | طُوءْط | طَاءْط | |
CV_# | ṭiʾ | ṭuʾ | ṭaʾ | ṭīʾ | ṭūʾ | ṭāʾ |
طِئ | طُؤ | طَأ | طِيء | طُوء | طَاء | |
طِء | طُء | طَء |
Colours:
ئ
ؤ
أ
, آ
, إ
ء
Notes:
In theJawi alphabet (Arabic script used to writeMalay), hamza is used for various purposes, but is rarely used to denote a glottal stop except in certain Arabic loanwords. The default isolated hamza form (Malay:hamzah setara) is the second least common form of hamza,[6] whereas another form unique to the Jawi script, the three-quarter high hamza (Malay: hamzah tiga suku) is most commonly used in daily Jawi writing. The three-quarter high hamza itself is used in many cases:[8]
This exact form is not available inUnicode Standard, as it is unified with ARABIC LETTER HIGH HAMZA, but the common way of writing this form is by using a normal hamza and altering its vertical position.
Hamza above alif⟨أ⟩ is used for prefixed words using the prefixes⟨ک⟩,⟨د⟩, or⟨س⟩, where its root word starts with a vowel (such asد+امبيل (di+ambil), becomesدأمبيل (diambil)). This form as well as hamza below alif⟨إ⟩ are both also in Arabic loanwords where the original spelling has been retained.
The hamza above ya⟨ئ⟩ is known as a "housed hamzah" (Malay:hamzah berumah), and is most commonly used in Arabic loanwords. It is also used for words which repeat or combine "i" and "é" vowels likeچميئيه (cemeeh meaning "taunt") and for denoting a glottal stop in the middle of a word after a consonant such asسوبئيديتور (subeditor). More commonly, however, it is used for denoting a schwa after the vowels "i", "é", "o", and "u" such asچندليئر (chandelier).
Hamza above waw⟨ؤ⟩ is completely removed from the Jawi alphabet, and for Arabic loanwords using the letter, it is replaced with a normal waw followed by a three-quarter high hamza instead.[9]
In theUrdu alphabet, hamza does not occur at the initial position over alif since alif is not used as a glottal stop in Urdu. In the middle position, if hamza is surrounded by vowels, it indicates adiphthong or syllable break between the two vowels. In the middle position, if hamza is surrounded by only one vowel, it takes the sound of that vowel. In the final position hamza is silent or produces a glottal sound, as in Arabic.
In Urdu, hamza usually represents a diphthong between two vowels. It rarely acts like the Arabic hamza except in a few loanwords from Arabic.
Hamza is also added at the last letter of the first word ofezāfe compound to represent -e- if the first word ends withyeh or withhe or overbari yeh if it is added at the end of the first word of the ezāfe compound.
Hamza is always written on the line in the middle position unless inwaw if that letter is preceded by a non-joiner letter; then, it is seated above waw. Hamza is also seated when written above baṛi yeh. In the final form, Hamza is written in its full form. In ezāfe, hamza is seated above choṭi he, yeh or baṛi yeh of the first word to represent the -e- of ezāfe compound.
In theUyghur Arabic alphabet, the hamza is not a distinct letter and is not generally used to denote the glottal stop, but rather to indicate vowels. The hamza is only depicted with vowels in their initial or isolated forms, and only then when the vowel starts a word. It is also occasionally used when a word has two vowels in a row.[10]
In theKazakh Arabic alphabet, the hamza is used only at the beginning of words, and the only form is high hamza. It is not used to denote any sound, but to indicate that the vowels in the word will be the four front vowels:⟨ٵ⟩ (ä),⟨ٸ⟩ (ı),⟨ٶ⟩ (ö),⟨ٷ⟩ (ü). However, it is not used for words containing another front vowel⟨ە⟩ (e) or words containing four consonants⟨گ⟩ (g),⟨غ⟩ (ğ),⟨ك⟩ (k),⟨ق⟩ (q).[11]
In the Persian alphabet, the hamza often denotes glottal stop (a similar function to the letter 'ayn ⟨ع⟩), and is commonly found in Arabic loanwords only. Hamza below alif ⟨إ⟩ is completely removed from the Persian alphabet, and in Arabic loanwords,alif maddah ⟨آ⟩ is used instead.
The hamza may be used over the letters heh or yeh for theezāfe suffix, though a non-connecting yeh may be used instead.
TheKashmiri language written in Arabic script includes the diacritic or "wavy hamza". In Kashmiri the diacritic is calledāmālü mad when used above alif: ٲ to create the vowel/əː/.[12] Kashmiri calls the wavy hamzasāȳ when below the alif: اٟ to create the sound/ɨː/.[13]
There are different ways to represent hamza in Latin transliteration: